The BJP Monday reacted strongly to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's reported criticism of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's UN speech, saying the opposition party defied a convention of all political parties speaking in the same voice on India's stand abroad.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Congress is being increasingly seen to be standing with Pakistan as Tharoor's statement was not an isolated incident and the opposition party often spoke the language of the neighouring country.
He told a press conference that the Congress should apologise to the country and said its stand on various issues appeared similar to that of Pakistan in "intent, language and style".
On Sunday, Tharoor had reportedly said in Kerala that Swaraj's speech was aimed at her party's voters on the subject of Pakistan rather than constructing a positive image of India in the world.
"There has been an established convention in politics since independence that political parties are unanimous on foreign issues, at least when it comes to taking a stand at the United Nations (UN) where India's position is not of a political party.
"Pakistan has always opposed us there. For the first time a senior Congress leader is also criticising," Trivedi said.
He said Tharoor had used the term "Hindu Pakistan" to attack the BJP's rule.
The BJP leader also cited comments of Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar and Ghulam Nabi Azad to liken it with Pakistan in its opposition to the Modi government.
He said the Congress has lost the "moral right" to claim to be the party of Mahatma Gandhi, wondering if the Congress in zeal to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also opposing the country.
The BJP in opposition behaved responsibly, the spokesperson said.
Trivedi said Atal Bihari Vajpayee had put up a robust defence at the United Nations of the then Indian government headed by P V Narasimha Rao, while Modi had slammed then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif for his swipe at his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
Attacking the Congress, he said it, like Pakistan, has also attacked the RSS, the ideological parent of the BJP, and was now criticising the Rafale deal.
Former Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik went to the extent of saying that Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be India's next prime minister, Trivedi said.
The alleged similarity in the stands of Pakistan and the Congress was also there when the latter was in power, he claimed.
He cited terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba's founder Hafiz Sayeed's alleged praise of the then home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for his use of the term "Hindu terror" in 2013 and of another Congress leader Digivijay Singh after he allegedly linked the RSS to the Mumbai terror attack in 2008.
The BJP leader, at the same press conference, also claimed that the Congress had expelled three functionaries from the party's unit in Madhya Pradesh because of their chants praising Lord Shiva, and alleged that it had exposed the "true colours" of its president Rahul Gandhi.
He said the Congress had projected Gandhi as an ardent devotee of Shiva but this claim has now proved to be a "farce".
To a question about the Congress's charge that the BJP was appropriating the legacy of the likes of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi as it had no leader in its ranks who participated in the independent struggle, he said these leaders belonged to all Indian.
"Mahatma Gandhi was called the father of the nation, not the father of the Congress," he said.
The BJP leader claimed that no Congress leader except Lala Lajpat Rai died in police action. There were many others outside Congress who were killed and hanged by British authorities, he said.
The Congress worked to erase their contributions, he said, adding that many people and organisations worked for independence and the opposition party was not alone.
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